Swimming Submarines
by systematic-alchemy
Summary: Clarke's been around since before the war wondering when humans will come home.
1. Chapter 1

John Murphy getting sent to Earth for selling his rations to get new boots topped the latest diarrhea in the steaming pile of shit that made up his life. Everyone knew that Earth had been overtaken by vampires, so survival was unlikely. But at he'd get to see the world before biting it.

* * *

On the ground, every resident within the eye line watched the ship come down. Clarke, along with everyone else, knew that there were some humans left in space, and they'd been waiting a long time for them to return. Curiosity peaked, she ran through the lush forest to see the humans as soon as they got there. She was one of the few remaining that remembered what things were like before the war. The rest left or don't think about it. Clarke thought about it all the time. Her life before the war had been difficult just like all the others, but the devastation from the war still made her sad even though the land had recovered.

But humans didn't exist here anymore. If one asked they'd get as many answers as people they asked. Take a single look at any of them, and one would notice all the homages to humans. Even a century later they tried to appear as human as they could.

* * *

The landing sent idiots that got out of their seats to their death, and Murphy just shrugged it off and got to the door before anyone else. He wanted to see the world first. Would it look like the pictures he'd seen? The machine hum dispersed as the drop ship powered down. He was amazed as anyone that this bucket of bolts made it.

Not giving a damn about the reunion in front of him, he scratched at the bracelet on his wrist and waited for the door to come down. When it did, he had to blink away the light. Things were never this bright on the Ark. Not even when they were sun side. All the windows were tinted. While this hurt his eyes, he didn't give a damn. When he saw the trees covered in moss and smelled the crisp clean air, nothing mattered. Not even his imminent death bothered him.

Unlike everyone else, he kept looking up. Everyone else couldn't stop looking down at the flowers, the grass, the dirt. Murphy couldn't stop looking at how tall the trees were, and that there wasn't a ceiling to be seen. While he absently stepped over a fallen tree, he caught his first glimpse of a vampire. Long blonde hair, a white dress, and pale humanoid limbs jumped from limb to limb and tree to tree, following him. "Hey! I see you!"

What looked like a girl his age, but he knew wasn't a person at all, dropped in front of him. Her smile glinted in the shafts of light. "You speak English! I haven't spoken English in just under seventy five years. Hi! Welcome Home! I'm Clarke. What's your name?"

"Why?"

"And here I thought it was polite to make introductions." She held out her hand for a handshake. "I'll watch my strength, I promise. Are you going to stare at me all day or introduce yourself?"

"I'm John Murphy. Everyone calls me Murphy." He shook her hand and found her grip solid but as promised not crushing.

"Murphy. I like it. I don't know a single Murphy or even a John. It's so human. What made humans change their mind and want to come home?" She sat on the fallen tree with her hand under her chin, gazing up at him like a child waiting for their parent to tell them a story.

"You don't want to kill me then?"

"Why would I? Humans have such short life spans already. You'll mature, spawn, mature more, and die. There's nothing for me to do. And I wouldn't want to even if you lived as long as we do." Clarke smiled at the wrinkled face he made. "What do they tell you about why you've been space locked?"

"There was a war between humans and vampires, and we lost."

"Mm, that's an interesting take, I suppose." Clarke stood up, grabbing Murphy's arm. "You're hungry. We need to feed you."

As she dragged him through the woods, he said, "But I'm not hungry."

She stopped and looked at him as if he'd just flown. "Your stomach growled. I heard it."

"It growls all the time. We're genetically engineered to not need that much food."

"That explains why everyone on the ship was so skinny."

"I expected vampires to be skinny. Never thought a diet of sucking life out of things would put that much weight on." He eyed her curves.

"I'm curious about something. How many supernatural things do you think exist?"

"Never gave it much thought. You going to tell me?"

"I'd rather hear your guesses." She smirked in this mysterious way that drew him to her.

"I'll get back to you on that."

"Do that. But right now we should work on getting you food. Even if you aren't hungry now, you will be soon. And so will your friends. I have my own friends that'll help." She tilted her head in the direction they were already heading. Then she stopped. "It'd be quicker if I carried you."

He held up his hands. "I'd rather walk."

"At a human pace it'll take a day to get there if we don't stop, longer if you need to rest."

"I didn't exactly sit still in space. I'm up for it."

"Then I can tell you what your species has missed in the last century while we walk." This time she didn't smile, and he wondered why.

He found out why she hadn't smiled the more he listened to her talk about the species that had been revived, the cities that they destroyed to let nature breathe again, and how peaceful things were now. Capitalism didn't exist and everything was shared. All of this confused him. "Aren't vampires blood sucking soulless murderers?"

"Mythologically speaking. Welcome to the new Earth. We call it Ides since we've ruled it since March 15th a century ago. Though I'm not sure ruled is the right word." A roar echoed through the forest.

"What the hell was that?" Murphy asked with instincts ducking his head.

"One of the gorillas. They didn't want to leave when we offered, so we let them out of their cages along with the rest of the animals that didn't want to leave. We've got many primates, large cats, birds. There's a herd of elephants, some giraffe, and antelope too. Though the elephants stick to the less dense areas. When they come this way, they topple trees." Clarke shrugged like this was no big deal.

"But aren't we near Washington DC?" Murphy looked around and determined they must have landed far from their target.

"I never been to old DC. So I don't know what it's like there. Nor do I want to know. a lot of horrors happened there. Most of us avoid it as if it would poison us. It wouldn't but still even those that have forgotten don't go there. We're on the other coast of what used to be the States." She looked up. "It's going to rain. A storm will make it dark soon. You're susceptible to cold, we should find shelter. Rain here is frigid this time of year."

He followed her up a hill until the rain slipped the ground out from under him, hitting his head off a rock at the bottom of the ravine. There was shooting pain and then nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Behind the dripping were the sounds of a storm only familiar to Murphy through old recordings. Nothing was like hearing it in person. The pain in his head pulsed with a clap of thunder, but it didn't matter, not with the cool mist spraying his skin and moistening his clothes.

"I believe that change in your breathing means you're awake." The sound of Clarke's voice made Murphy's stomach tingle.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm awake. How long do you think this storm will be around?" he asked as he sat up.

"Since weather doesn't affect me either way, I never paid attention to how that works. I pay more attention to animals. It'll pass when it passes. If you're getting hungry I can get you something."

"I ate before leaving the Ark I'm good for at least another day." His growling stomach echoed through the cave. "Okay maybe more like only a day."

"Be right back." Clarke disappeared in a blur.

Murphy sighed. "Great, stuck in a cave during a hurricane while a vampire finds me what she considers food."

Clarke returned a few minutes later with a basketful of vegetables and fruit - things he'd seen in movies and pictures, but never dreamed he'd ever get to eat. His focus zeroed in on the cherries. He forgot these had large seeds in them and hurt his teeth when he bit down. Murphy shook that off and sucked the rest of the fruit off the seed. His eyes rolled up in pleasure.

The sight of Murphy so blissful brought a sad smile to Clarke's lips, and she watched him intently, his pleasure, making her wistful. It had been a long time since she'd been jealous of anyone. She wished she could experience food this way. For as advanced as her species was, taste wasn't something they'd ever gotten.

After the last of the food disappeared, Murphy sat back with a sore stomach. "I don't get it. Why does my stomach hurt now? I just ate more than I've ever eaten in one sitting."

"There is such a thing as overeating. I remember the people before the war. They were so gluttonous in this area, and they'd eat until they got sick."

"Huh, I thought that was a metaphor in old movies. Something someone said as a backward compliment to the cook. Well, it was worth the stomach ache. I've never had fresh food."

"The rain's letting up, we should head out again." Clarke smirked at Murphy. "That is if you can even stand."

"Hardy har har. I'm fine." Murphy belched as he stood up. "That felt good. Lead the way, leech."

"I can't wait to show you the City of Light. You might short circuit seeing something so gorgeous." Clarke nodded toward the cave opening. "Want me to carry you this time? We'd be there in no time if you let me."

"Fine, whatever. How do we do this?" Murphy asked, eyeing her short stature.

"Ever had a piggyback ride?"

"Of course."

"Then hop on." She laughed when he hesitated. "You can't hurt me."

Murphy finally decided to just jump onto her back and true to her word, it didn't hurt her. Clarke's arms hooked under his legs after she wrapped his arms tight around her neck. Her skin felt impossibly smooth and pleasantly cool. Then she ran, and the wind whipped her hair into his face obscuring his vision. He held on with a vice grip for the five minute trip.

"Close your eyes," she said as she stopped.

He didn't listen to her and got his first glimpse of the City of Light. There were spiraling buildings reflecting the sun off every surface. It glittered liquid, silver and white. John slid off Clarke's back. "This can't be real."

Clarke shook the dirt off her. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"I don't think beautiful's the right word. I don't know if there is a word to describe this." Murphy clambered down the hill toward the city. "How were vampires able to survive without people to feed off of?"

"I'll show you if you stop moving for a minute."

He stopped and met her eyes, getting his first true look at them. They were dark pools at first glance but when he peered deeper into them he could see the circuits. "You're not alive? I mean you were never alive? You're a robot, not a vampire?"

"I'm the oldest of my kind. My maker was a woman named Abigail Griffin. She remained a close ally to all the AI's through the war. Most humans didn't see us as equal and tried to wipe us out. They bombed their own and only planet to devastation, somehow missing that they needed the world intact more than we did." The sorrow seeped into every word. "When they murdered Abby shortly before the first nuke was detonated, the AI community was moved to action. It was us or them. Your ancestors treated this planet so atrociously, we decided to go against Abby's wishes for peace. There would never be peace, so we decided to fight rather than hide." A tear slid down her cheek. "We won because we don't need to breathe."

"How can you cry?" Murphy asked. "How can a machine cry?"

"It's a drop of my cooling water. I'm old and some of my parts still leak when I get emotional. But now is not the time for sadness. We should be celebrating. Humans saw fit to come home. My brothers and sisters will welcome the chance to live in peace with you." Her smile radiated, and Murphy stared at her in awe.

"Emotions. I don't understand how a robot could have the feelings you do."

"That's no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim." Clarke laced her fingers with Murphy's. "I can make you immortal, you know. We have the technology now. You'll never get sick, and you'll never grow old. You'll be young and strong forever. Would you like that John Murphy?"

"Yes, Clarke, I would." He squeezed her hand before letting it go and running his hand up her arm. They touched foreheads and smiled. They had an infinite future ahead of them.


End file.
